Inform Direct now supporting over 400,000 companies

In the last year, we’ve made 20 core feature releases to enhance Inform Direct. But we’re always committed to do more, continuing to develop our software and working with partners to better support accountants and others. Our expanding team will help us to deliver more and continue to provide the exceptional service which is at the core of the Inform Direct experience.

As we continue the year, we have a lot of exciting plans! You can always get a flavour of what’s to come by checking our software timeline, but here’s what we’re looking to achieve next.

Workflow automation

We’re committed to helping accountants further automate your workflow. That includes further automation of the confirmation statement, delivering an end-to-end process that minimises the need for manual input. A part of that will involve the introduction of our client portal, which you can white label with your own brand, providing a further efficient means for your customers to approve or comment on transactions. We’ll continue to expand this feature to facilitate accountants’ interaction with their clients on company secretarial matters.

Further customisation

More generally, we want to build processes accommodating the needs of all accountancy practices. That will involve adding more flexibility, including around how transactions are dated, further customisation possibilities and new options to work in a way that suits you and your practice.

Managing more clients

Many accountants have asked us about supporting entities other than companies and LLPs in Inform Direct. Therefore, we’re enabling you optionally to record the details of other business entities, including sole traders and partnerships, limited partnerships and offshore corporate entities. That will allow our users to flexibly manage more in one place, whether that’s in staying on top of deadlines, keeping track of key business information and registers or producing compliant business documentation. And for UK companies, we’ll be making it easier to start accruing benefits from Inform Direct even before you’ve entered a company’s authentication code.

A wider ecosystem

We understand that, certainly for some accountants, Inform Direct fits into a wider ecosystem of products that you use to deliver benefits for your clients. That’s why we continue to invest in the efficiency of our two-way interface with Companies House. More widely, we’re exploring how we can best facilitate beneficial integration with other products that form part of your practice’s toolkit.

ECCTA compliance

We were delighted to be able to support accountants and others as Companies House implemented the first phase of changes emerging from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. (And we’re still glad to help you to record registered email addresses for your clients!) We’ll continue to work hard alongside our partners to deliver fully compliant solutions as further changes emerge. That’s coupled with ongoing investment in great validation so you’re confident you get every transaction right first time, as Companies House increasingly exercises its new powers to query and reject submissions and existing information on the public register.

Thank you for your support

Our best ideas have always come from talking with our amazing customers. We love to hear your ideas, whether for big enhancements or the tiniest of changes that will help your business. You’ll also soon start to see surveys from us, looking at what we can do better and also seeking input on specific features you’d like to see. You can always get in touch with any feedback you have!

On behalf of the whole Inform Direct team, I’d like to thank all our customers for your continued support and enthusiasm. Your dedication to your own clients inspires us all, and we are delighted to partner you in your ongoing commitment to company secretarial compliance.